A GOP congressmen who was planning
to challenge
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
is now apologizing after a lobbyist
came forward with some pretty
terrible allegations against him.
So, lobbyist, or former lobbyist,
I should say,
Nicolette Davis said that, in 2017,
New York Representative Tom Reid
rubbed her back at a bar and
unhooked her bra without consent.
Davis, who was 25 years old
at the time, and a lobbyist for
insurer Aflac, when she said Reed,
seated next to her at a Minneapolis
bar, unhooked her bra from
outside her blouse and
moved his hand to her thigh.
Now, she had evidence that this
happened because at the time
she had texted a co-worker, and
she said this.
A drunk congressman is rubbing my
back.
She texted a co worker at Aflac
that evening, adding later, help,
help in all caps.
And at first, Reed was pretty much
denying her version of events.
He said that what she was saying
was not accurate.
But he actually immediately took
that back and apologized, and said
in a statement that the incident
involving then-lobbyist Nicolette
Davis occurred at a time in my life
in which I was struggling.
He said he entered treatment that
year and realized he was
powerless over alcohol.
He also apologized to his wife and
children and
to Davis, the former lobbyist, and
said that he planned to, quote,
dedicate my time and
attention to making amends for
my past actions.
He was elected into Congress in
2010, but he will not
seek reelection in 2022.
And obviously,
he is not planning on challenging
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, but
someone reputable and
progressive absolutely should.
>> Okay, so this story has a couple
of lessons in here.
Number one, Andrew Cuomo is in
a world of trouble because of
sexual harassment charges.
This guy, knowing what he's done in
the past, throws his hat in
the ring to oppose him anyway.
To me, that's an indictment of
the press, because that's this guy
saying the press has never held me
accountable in my entire life.
I've never known the press to hold
anyone accountable
in my entire life.
And obviously,
they're doing it to Cuomo now, but
that's because he's in the middle
of a national maelstrom and kind of
thrust himself into that spotlight.
But I guess Reed's assumption was
yeah, yeah,
all the sexual harassment I did,
that'll never come to light.
It's never come to light before,
why would it start now?
So, when the first story broke,
he's like
that's totally unexpected, okay.
[LAUGH] So,
he at first tries to fight it, and
then he realizes, nah,
this ain't going to work and
he gets the hell out.
Now, second conclusion that you
get out of this is
he's quitting politics altogether.
That means that story, as horrific
as it is, unbuckling her bra,
you don't know her, in the middle
of every, in a bar in public?
I can't imagine how much more of
a lunatic you can be.
But apparently, he was,
because you don't nuke your entire
career unless there's a lot of
those stories and you're trying to
get the hell out of Dodge before
the rest of the stories break.
Let me explain that that's exactly
what happened here.
So, if you think a Republican,
who had that kind of ambition,
retires from politics based on one
story, then you don't know anything
about politics in this country.
No, if a Republican nukes
his career,
that means what they were about to
uncover is the most toxic sludge
you've ever seen in your life.
>> Yeah, I agree with you.
I mean, I have the same speculation
because there are really two
potential paths to take once
the first allegation comes out.
And look, to be fair to the media,
I guess, in this case,
Nicolette Davis didn't come forward
until now, right?
So, it'd be weird if the media went
on some sort of fishing expedition
to see if rando congressmen have
done inappropriate things.
I'm sure many of them have, but
you can't really do that fishing
expedition.
You need a woman to actually
come forward.
And in this case,
I'm really proud of her for doing
this because we've seen how women
have been treated in the press,
not just by the perpetrators, but
also by their supporters.
And so, she came out, she she made
these allegations, she had evidence
in the form of a text that she sent
to a colleague at the time.
And if Reed continued to deny it
and took the Andrew Cuomo approach,
well, then, there's a pretty
significant likelihood that more
and more women are going to come
out, and it's going to put
his family through a lot.
It's probably going to put him
through a lot, although I don't
feel sorry for him at all.
So, yeah,
I think that there are probably,
and I'm speculating,
some other skeletons in his closet.
He doesn't want to deal with it,
and so to stop the pain,
he just kind of decided to not just
bounce from the possibility of
challenging Andrew Cuomo, but
just leave politics altogether.
It's like, you know,
I don't think that her perspective
of the events are accurate.
And then, within like a day no, no,
I'm sorry, actually, I'm sorry, I'm
sorry, what I have to say about her
version of events is irrelevant.
I apologize to everyone,
including Davis, and
I will not be seeking reelection.
I'm done, I'm over, 'bye.
That does seem to indicate that
there's more going on that we
know about.
But look, alcoholism,
drug addiction, those kinds of
things are serious, and I hope he
is getting the help that he needs,
not just for himself, but for
potential victims who have to
deal with his disgusting behavior.
And I'm glad that he won't be in
politics anymore.
I'm really proud of Nicolette Davis
for coming forward.
>> Yeah, and remember guys,
he's not even a local politician.
He's a United States
congressman from New York.
He was thinking of having higher
ambitions to go to Governor of
New York and then God knows what.
And for him to turn around
instantly from I'd like to run for
governor to I'd like to
end my career completely.
Man, I wish somebody would uncover
whatever other skeletons he
has in his closet because, my God,
what did he do,
that he doesn't want you to know?